With all the threads going back and forth there is one issue that has not been discussed directly; where are photography and the profession going?
I find it very useful not to think about tomorrow but to take a more drastic step- Where will photography be 5 or 10 years from now? Cameras will have much higher resolution, more than what is needed in most cases, less noise, better dynamic range and they will be even smarter. Printers will be even better than today and with stable colors. Further, color management issues presumably will have been sorted out automatically and the *technical* picture quality and prints will be very good, regardless who pushes the button. Similarly, the software and hardware computer issues will be gone. There already exist digital picture frames where pictures can be loaded into, even remotely over the web, so grandma can enjoy the latest pictures of the grandchildren without bothering with prints or computers. Where will the professional photographer fit into that future? I do not have any good answers but I believe that marketing and business skills will be critical to be successful long term as a photographer. Of course, it is self understood that artistic ability is required. In many ways, it looks grim since some simple non-artistic but profitable jobs are disappearing. I have not seen any proposal that a professional photographer's organization sponsor advertisements to promote the need for professional pictures vs. amateur ones. This is not just a problem for photographers, many other business are going through drastic changes. See for example what happened to travel agents. In the electronic manufacturing business, we daily have to fight for survival when prices and products are compared to what is done in the Orient. The one thing that will be extremely difficult to automate in the photographic business is the artistic side, inventive displays and compositions. Bertho Boman =============================================================== GO TO http://www.prodig.org for ~ GUIDELINES ~ un/SUBSCRIBING ~ ITEMS for SALE
